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phalanx

American  
[fey-langks, fal-angks] / ˈfeɪ læŋks, ˈfæl æŋks /

noun

PLURAL

phalanxes, phalanges

  1. (in ancient Greece) a group of heavily armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep, with shields joined and long spears overlapping.

  2. any body of troops in close array.

  3. a number of individuals, especially persons united for a common purpose.

  4. a compact or closely massed body of persons, animals, or things.

  5. Military. Phalanx, a radar-controlled U.S. Navy 20 mm Gatling-type gun deployed on ships as a last line of defense against antiship cruise missiles.

  6. (in Fourierism) a group of about 1800 persons, living together and holding their property in common.

  7. Anatomy, Zoology. any of the bones of the fingers or toes.

verb (used without object)

  1. Printing. to arrange the distribution of work in a shop as evenly as possible.

phalanx British  
/ ˈfælæŋks /

noun

  1. an ancient Greek and Macedonian battle formation of hoplites presenting long spears from behind a wall of overlapping shields

  2. any closely ranked unit or mass of people

    the police formed a phalanx to protect the embassy

  3. a number of people united for a common purpose

  4. (in Fourierism) a group of approximately 1800 persons forming a commune in which all property is collectively owned

  5. anatomy any of the bones of the fingers or toes

  6. botany

    1. a bundle of stamens, joined together by their stalks (filaments)

    2. a form of vegetative spread in which the advance is on a broad front, as in the common reed Compare guerrilla

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
phalanx Scientific  
/ fā′lăngks′ /

PLURAL

phalanges

  1. Any of the small bones of the fingers or toes in humans or the digits of many other vertebrates.

Etymology

Origin of phalanx

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin, from Greek phálanx “military formation, bone of finger or toe, wooden roller”

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Afterwards, Gandhi presided over waves of civil disobedience protests, encouraging supporters of the Indian National Congress to manufacture contraband salt, boycott foreign goods, and face down phalanxes of lathi-wielding policemen.

From BBC

"He comes with a phalanx of Secret Service. This is going to require multi-agency protection. He's not just any other defendant in reality."

From Salon

Weisselberg was arraigned and released about eight hours later, after being walked into a courtroom past a phalanx of news cameras in the hallway.

From Washington Times

Crawford describes the attempts of migrants to scale these fences in the dead of night, break through phalanxes of military police and reach an office building where they can claim asylum.

From Washington Post

Crowds of students marched in phalanxes, chanting “All together, all together, general strike!”

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.